FAQs

Why are sessions limited to 30-45 minutes?

The goal of a writing center visit is to help you develop a plan for revision, not to perform that revision. In a short portion of the paper, or a quick structural and organizational scan, a trained peer tutor can determine with you what you will need to focus on when you revise your paper.

Can I have back-to-back sessions?

Since the goal of a Writing Center visit is to identify what stage of revision is next, and not to proofread the paper, a 30-45-minute session is all that is necessary and will be surprisingly helpful. There are more than 500 peer tutoring sessions each term, so we must limit the duration of each session so all students have equal access to the Center.

After one session, you can make an appointment for another session after significantly revising the paper along the lines you and your peer tutor have discussed.

Will you proofread and mark up the grammar on my paper?

Not exactly, but we can do something better. We help you recognize patterns of mechanical errors in your writing and provide brief instruction on grammatical topics. If we proofread your paper, you wouldn't learn how to do it yourself.

What if my topic is not one the Center tutors are familiar with?

While each discipline has specific forms of writing, academic writing is fairly consistent from discipline to discipline. Most academic writing shares basic structural components of logic and readability. Obscure subject matters, in almost all cases, are not a hindrance to benefiting from a Writing Center session. What's more, the Writing Center staff has a diverse range of majors.

I brought my paper to the Writing Center. How come I only got a B?

Writing Center tutors will never make a prediction about your grade. Since they are not grading your paper, they have no way of knowing how someone else will evaluate your work. Grades are determined by your professor or instructor.

If I get a referral from my professor to visit the Writing Center, what does that mean?

A writing referral is a way of formalizing a number of visits to the Center. The referral helps identify specifics that your professor believes will benefit your writing the most.

Am I only allowed to visit the Writing Center once a term?

No. Visits to the Center are limited only by tutor availability and the Center's schedule. You can visit as many times a term as you like; however, you are allowed only one visit per "revision cycle." In other words, after you have a session with a tutor on a paper, you cannot come back with that same paper until you have executed the revisions identified during the session.

I did not like my tutor/session. What can I do?

Talk with the director to see if there's another tutor on staff who might be better suited to your ways of working.